Nobela ni Santana Fox

JAXSON'S POV The horn blew, and we lined up for the opening faceoff. I looked down the bench one last time before the puck dropped. Charles was already in position on my right, tapping his stick on the ice, not even glancing my way. Carl caught my eye from where he sat and gave me a small nod. He knew something was off between me and my winger Charles, and he was silently telling me to just play through it. I didn't have time to think about it more than that. The ref dropped the puck, and my head went quiet, just like every game. We hit the ice for the first period and started strong. I pushed the puck back to our defensemen; they pushed it right back up the ice. I skated hard toward the net to receive the pass on my stick. I shot it fast, and boom, I buried the first goal. The crowd went wild; the cheers were loud and aggressive. James was right there on the ice; he crashed the net with me. We celebrated together near the glass, and two minutes later, we got another chance to sc

JAXSON'S POV Clara froze for a second, and I could literally see her scrambling to come up with something to say. "I'm not avoiding you," she finally said. "Right." I raised an eyebrow at her. "That's why you've been gone before the sun's even up since Monday, and my homework just magically appears on the dining table every single morning like a ghost dropped it off in the night. You've been running from me since Monday." Clara said nothing. She just pressed her lips into a thin line and kept her head down. I took a small step forward and saw her clearly. She wore her nightdress, the same one she wore the day I noticed her... ‘Snap out of it,’ I thought. I lowered my voice yet spoke fiercely. "We had a deal, Clara. You ride in my car to the bus stop and back. When you vanish and take the public bus, it makes it look bad, like I'm disobeying my parents' orders, and then they start calling to blow up my phone." She sighed loudly. "I just... I had things to do." "Sure you did,"

JAXSON'S POVClara froze for a second, and I could literally see her scrambling to come up with something to say."I'm not avoiding you," she finally said."Right." I raised an eyebrow at her. "That's why you've been gone before the sun's even up since Monday, and my homework just magically appears on the dining table every single morning like a ghost dropped it off in the night. You've been running from me since Monday."Clara said nothing. She just pressed her lips into a thin line and kept her head down.I took a small step forward and saw her clearly. She wore her nig

CLARA'S POVI grabbed the hoodie off my chair and yanked it over my chest so fast I nearly knocked my lamp off the nightstand. "What are you doing?! You have to knock before coming into my room!"Lily completely ignored my scolding. She stepped closer and looked at me closely. "Whoa. That looks really pretty. Where'd you get it?""That's not a question you should be asking. And why did you barge into my room without knocking?""Because we are going out for a walk!" she said proudly. "Jaxson said yes!""Jaxson said yes?” I said in shock. “Are you sure, Lily?"

CLARA'S POVI sat at the edge of my mattress and dialed my mother's number immediately. "Mom? Are you okay? I saw your text about the piggy bank.""Hey, Clara, sweetie," she said softly. "I was just looking under the bed for it.""I'm so sorry, Mom," I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "I used the cash inside to help pay Mr. Chase the outstanding rent. I should have told you. But don't worry, payday from the Kings is at the end of the month, which is next week. I'll put every single dollar back, I promise.""Calm down, darling." She laughed; that threw me way more than if she'd yelled. "Sweetie, that's not why I texted you.""It's not?""No. I wasn't checking to see if the money was still in there. Mrs. Gabe and a couple of the ladies from the club came by while I was at the hospital. They slipped me a little envelope, just some pocket money to help out while I got back on my feet. I wanted to tuck some of it away in the jar for us. That's all this was."I sank onto my mattress, feeling th

JAXSON'S POVPanic and fury exploded in my chest at once. I slammed on the brakes, threw the door open, and sprinted toward them. "What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled.Clara jumped and pulled Lily closer to her side. "Jaxson, wait, I can explain—""Explain why my six-year-old sister is outside on a lonely street in the dark?" I roared."Jaxson, wait, she wanted to—"I didn't want to hear it; I didn't want to hear her reasons or excuses. I reached out, grabbed Lily by the arm, and pulled her away from Clara, straight to the car."Jaxson, let me go!" Lily wailed, thrashing against my grip. "I wanted to come out here! We were just taking a walk!""Get in the car, both of you. Right now," I ordered."Jaxson, please listen…" Clara tried again."GET IN THE CAR!" I screamed.Clara flinched as if I had struck her. She shut her mouth and silently obeyed, sliding into the backseat, but Lily didn't stay calm. She was still screaming and kicking, entirely obstinate, so I just picked her up, s